Imitation: Arguments for a Developmental Approach11A preliminary statement of the ideas contained in this paper was presented at the Miami University Symposium on Social Behavior, Oxford, Ohio, November 1, 1968. The proceedings of that symposium were published by Academic Press under the title Early Experiences and the Processes of Socialization, edited by R. Hoppe, G. A. Milton, and E. Simmel, 1970

Publisher Summary This chapter presents arguments for a developmental approach for childhood socialization. The contributions of Richard Walters have brought one to the point from which such studies can begin. His work will remain as a superb example of the process-oriented research that is needed to give some idea to understand the role played by imitation in childhood socialization. The problems of first imitations, the production of generalized imitation, and the role of imitation in the socialization of the child have not fully been understood. For this purpose, one needs sophisticated analyses of the modeling problem focusing on a wide variety of temperamental and cognitive vicissitudes as these interact with the contingencies of exposure to models in determining children's tendencies to imitate. Such research will facilitate accounting for some of the problems, for example, the emergence of first imitations), but it should also increase the practical usefulness of the knowledge concerning imitation with respect to child rearing, childhood education, and psychotherapy with children. The case to be made for developmental research on imitation is not a theoretical issue but a question of values.